Alia Sierra was sentenced to six years total Thursday after she drove a car into a home and killed two sisters last year. The sentence will be two years in the Department of Corrections, two in Community Corrections and two on probation.
Back in September, Sierra pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless homicide which resulted in the deaths of 17-year-old Haleigh Fullerton and 8-year-old Callie Fullerton. Both charges are Level 5 felonies which carried a maximum sentence of one to six years for each count.
Family members testified and said their family would never heal. Sierra made a statement to the court and apologized for what she did and added she wished she could switch places with the girls.
“There’s no level of satisfaction that comes from a case like this,” said Clinton County Prosecutor Tony Sommer. “Unfortunately, we have to argue what the law provides for in cases such as this. The sentence is appropriate as the judge has handed it down.”
Before handing down his sentence, Judge Brad Mohler said, “I don’t have any magic words to make it better, These were two outstanding young women with a bright life ahead of them. Life will not be the same because they won’t be there physically. We don’t know why it had to happen and that’s the frustrating part.”
On July 12, 2017, Sierra crashed her car into the Fullerton house at 4954 West County Road 300 North, killing the two sisters and seriously injuring their mother, Bridget Fullerton.
Sommer said eight of the 10 charges against Sierra were dismissed. He said the controlled substances that were alleged to be in her system could not be confirmed and couldn’t go to trial.
Investigators said Sierra was going more than 100 miles an hour when she lost control of the car. Other teens in the vehicle told police they repeatedly asked her to slow down.
“I really wish the legislature would consider increasing the penalties for reckless homicide as well as for operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death in the state of Indiana because I feel like the sentence that is available under the current law for those kinds of crimes are insufficient in this state,” said Sommer. “Frankly, it’s very hard to me to argue for an advisory sentence when the advisory sentence for taking a life is only three years. But, that’s what the law provides.”
In August, an appeals court ruled that Sierra, who is now 18, would be tried as an adult. She was 17 when the accident took place.